Been hearing about people with real plants in their tanks, and as I dont want my boy to hurt himself on the fake ones...plus think it would be cooler looking [especially now that he's in a 10 gal instead of 2.5] am thinking about getting a couple to relapse the current fake ones.

If I buy a planted / potted plat, can I leave it in there, or should I plant it into the gravel? ...Which would be easier when its time to clean the tank?

any suggestions as to what type of supplements are best to get?

would it be best to wait until Blue Bandit is fully recover from fin rot before adding them?

thanks for any input :D

iamntbatman

10-21-2008 02:11 AM

Depending on what type of medication you're using, you might want to wait until you're done medicating.

Potted plants usually do best if you removed them from the pots and plant them in the gravel. This gives their roots the chance to spread out.

Some plants absolutely need fertilizers, while some grow like weeds without them. It really depends on the plants you get.

What type of lighting do you have? If you have really basic lighting, you can really only get by with low-light plants like Java moss and Java fern. If you're willing to spend some money (say around $50 or so) you could upgrade to a lighting fixture that would allow you to grow just about anything in there. Keep in mind that if you have high lighting conditions CO2 is pretty much a must, but DIY CO2 is easy to set up and very inexpensive on a tank that size.

Kim

10-21-2008 09:07 PM

I just quickly wanted to add that some crypts are very good in low light aquariums. I have java moss and java fern among others in my 15 gal. planted, but my crypt red wendtii grows the best out of all of them :-D. It is also beautiful with its red coloration, something that you don't get much in low light tanks.

I'll leave the rest to the experts, as I am new to planted tanks too.

Haeclark

10-25-2008 12:35 AM

nice. thanks for the info.

the low lighting ones sound interesting...plus since I dont always have light on all day anyway...so would prob be best.

iamntbatman

10-25-2008 02:19 AM

I'm not sure if this applies to all of the species, but the anubias plants I've researched also generally do decently well in low lighting.

What lighting is on the tank?

Amphitrite

10-26-2008 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haeclark
(Post 149207)

nice. thanks for the info.

the low lighting ones sound interesting...plus since I dont always have light on all day anyway...so would prob be best.

Even low light plants require certain levels of lighting, and if the lights are off for long periods they could suffer. It might be a good idea to get a timer for the lights :-)